Most calls for service were emergency medical calls. Why does the WFD respond to medical emergencies?
Medical calls made up almost 67% of our total calls in 2008 and that is very common for the fire service today. While fire service response to medical emergencies can date back over 1200 years, the acceptance and transition to providing emergency medical services (EMS) in this country has been more recent. The fire service has formally been part of the 9-1-1 emergency care delivery system since EMS began in the late 1960s. Many of the original pre-hospital EMS providers were firefighters, who had special additional training in providing medical services during emergencies that occurred outside the hospital. Today, essentially every firefighter receives emergency medical training and the fire service provides the majority of medical services during emergencies that occur out of the hospital, just as it has been done for the past four decades.
